Time to conserve electricity Oahu...tonight between 5 and 9pm per HECO: Loss of power generators causes O‘ahu outages Customers are asked to conserve power Rotating outages may be necessary HONOLULU, Jan. 12, 2015 – The loss of several generating units, including the largest on the island operated by independent power producer AES, required Hawaiian Electric to briefly shut off power for about 10 minutes to about 22,000 customers at approximately 1:50 p.m. The targeted emergency outages were necessary to avoid a more widespread outage or damage to the electric system from an imbalance of too much demand versus too little available generation. The outages affected customers in areas across the island, including Kailua, Kaneohe, Maunawili, Wailupe, Halawa, Makalapa, Waipahu, and Waimano. Power to most affected customers was restored shortly after 2 p.m. The outage occurred after a 180-megawatt power plant operated by AES, an independent power producer, unexpectedly went out of service. In addition, the Kalaeloa Power Plant, also owned and operated by an independent power producer, has been providing less than half its maximum output of 208 megawatts as it goes through repairs for an equipment problem. One of Hawaiian Electric’s generating units at the Kahe Power Plant, which normally produces 135 megawatts, is also off line after it unexpectedly experienced problems this morning. Due to the loss of generation, Hawaiian Electric may need to initiate rolling outages starting at approximately 5 p.m. The outages would last approximately one hour and rotate through various parts of the island. This may be necessary to ensure the demand for power does not exceed the amount of available generation, which could result in an islandwide outage. Hawaiian Electric is asking O‘ahu customers to assist with the situation by conserving electricity use this evening, especially between 5 and 9 p.m. This precaution is intended to ensure sufficient power is available to meet the early evening peak demand for electricity. Suggested steps include turning off or lessening use of air conditioners, delaying hot showers and dishwashing activities, and minimizing cooking until later in the evening. “We apologize for this disruption and thank our customers for their patience. We understand the evening hours, especially today with the football game, are an especially inconvenient time to cut back on electricity, but with everyone’s help we hope to avoid an emergency situation,” said Darren Pai, Hawaiian Electric spokesperson. Hawaiian Electric is also asking its larger commercial customers to voluntarily reduce electricity usage. System operators will also work on further reducing the demand for power by using Hawaiian Electric’s demand response programs. These voluntary programs help lower the overall use of electricity by reducing the energy output of certain appliances or equipment, such as water heaters, for participating residential customers and non-essential lighting and heating or cooling systems for participating commercial customers.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 02:00:10 +0000
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